Dress Shopping

It's time to go dress shopping tomorrow night and I'm so excited!  I don't really consider myself a super girlie-girl when it comes to stuff like this, but I've been looking at dresses for days and I can't wait to start trying a few on. There are so many styles, but empire and A-lines are looking like my style.  Definitely going with white and flow-y, but past that, I don't have a clue, but it's going to be a blast!  We're looking at tea-length bridesmaid dress since it's an afternoon wedding, and longer dress feel a little too formal.  A girlfriend of mine who got married 2 years ago turned us on to a street in Cincinnati with several bridal shops all on one street.  Benson St holds 5 bridal stores and a lingerie shop.  All are on the same block so we might have to take a road trip if we can't find what we're looking for here.  This is the dress I have my eye on.

And the bridesmaid dresses...

Save the Dates

Save the dates are mailed!

Luminaries

I absolutely love the way these turned out!  We're making a few more and they'll go on the cake and gift tables.  I started with a Febreeze luminary.

I pealed the seal away on the shade to use it as a guide to cut the cardstock.  A 12x12 was about 1/4" too short so I had to cut two separate sections, with two tabs to connect them.

We printed an Android graphic from Google Images and I used an Exacto to cut him out, then laid it over white cardstock and traced it.

Once I cut out the figure on the cardstock, voila!  An Android luminary!

Our Flower Picks Came In!!!

We're not sure what type of flowers we are going to have yet; we just know they won't be roses.  I found the flowers that I would love to have, however, I somehow managed to choose one of the most expensive from what I'm reading.  Green cymbidium orchids are beautiful.

They are also $70 a stem.  I found silk stems at afloral.com for $10.69, but they aren't nearly as pretty.  We're not sure what we're going to do about the flowers yet, but luckily he has a family member that will hopefully help us.  Whatever we end up doing for the flowers, we want an Android pick in each bouquet.  These are supposed to be key chains, but once we snip the top off and put a wire into the bottom, they'll be ready to go into a bouquet.

Thank You Cards

This is really a strange topic to think about since we are 6 months to the wedding, but for someone who makes all their birthday and anniversary cards, 6 months just might be long enough to create enough handmade thank you cards for our post-wedding gratitude.  I am thinking that the card will be a traditional 4" x 6" card, but horizontal.  Then possibly a pic of Androidified Rhys and Vanessa on the front of the card, but that's where I'm stuck.  I don't know what color card to start with for starters.  I love the idea of going with a black card, but then you have to use white ink and we all know that sometimes that's difficult to read.  If we go with a white card, it would need to be really dressed up.  Either way, I really wish that there was an Android stamp out there somewhere.  No need to look for me.  I've crawled the Internet for hours in search of anything remotely similar that I could transform, but to no avail.  Thinking I might play with a potato this weekend and see if I can create one...how cool would that be?

To Do's

Rhys and I have known for awhile that we were going to get married; it was just a matter of when.  Now that we officially have a date (10-01-11!) and we've started the planning, I realize that there's a lot to do!  Of course, The Knot gave me a list of 193 items with a ticking time clock next to about 40 things that I should already have done.  Way to make a girl feel like a LOSER! LOL    But I thrive on to-do lists and keeping busy, so I'm loving this!  The plan is to get everything printed before the UPS sale is done on April 15th, so we're off to Mooresville tomorrow for all of our printing needs.  Then home to work on luminaries.  I'll post pics as soon as I have a prototype.  Wish me luck!

We Booked Our DJ

Both my mom and Rhys' brother and sis-in-law told us about a potential DJ...turns out it was the same guy!  We had already seen the DJ used at Jaleasa and Billy's wedding, so we figured we already knew his style and we called him first.  In the process of talking to him, I mentioned that both our families were in Morgan county.  He asked who my parents were and, lo and behold, he's the same DJ that Mom was telling me about that did all the entertainment at the clubhouse!  So he comes dually recommended which makes us even happier! :-)

Invitation Frustration

So once we got the invitations made, I checked with different printers for the best price.  Ranging from $0.59 at Kinko's down to $0.45 at a small printer in Greenwood, I called one last place.  The UPS Store on 135 said they were running a sale for $0.31.  I was ecstatic to get them for almost half price from the original quote I got from Kinko's.  In the process of running around on Saturday, we went by the store in Speedway and found that the special was actually $0.25!  But they only had 20 sheets of cardstock.  We had to run through Mooresville, so we stopped at the store there and they printed a test invitation, RSVP card, and save the date.  They looked great, but they were closing and he wanted us to come back and get them.  I figured the one in Greenwood is a lot closer, so I'd go there one night during the week.  I went on Monday night and they printed a test copy that came out about 3 shades darker green than the true color.  He compared it to the on-screen image, said he had no idea why it was printing darker or how to fix it.  No worries.  I'll head to the one in Franklin.  I went after work and they aren't running the special at that location.  I have already addressed the save the date envelopes and am ready to send them out, if only I could get them printed!!  Guess I'm headed back to Mooresville this weekend.

We've Been Androidified!

This is the coolest app!  You can make your Android tall or short, skinny or fat, change its hair style and color, and then dress it.  Shoes, hats, jewelry, and other accessories are even available.  When you're done, you can share it via email, SMS, Facebook, etc.  Of course I had to make us Wedding Androids!  Anyone who wants to Androidify with us can get the app in the Android Market!

Wow

Wow, things are moving pretty quickly around here. People are giving us some great ideas, and things are really coming together! We are trying to find as much Android stuff as we can, but we need help! If anyone knows of a good website where we can buy Android robot merchandise, please let us know. The main thing that we are looking for is little Android figurines that we can attach to things. Any help would be much appreciated!

My Ring

Rhys picked this out by himself and I couldn't have chosen better!  It's absolutely beautiful and I LOVE it!!

Changed My Mind

I've already changed my mind about the new invitations and Rhys agrees that these are great!

What do we think about the green box instead of layered with white???

Wedding Invitations

We are moving forward to wedding invitations, RSVP cards, and of course, save the dates since they need to go out soon.  We found a great graphic and were granted permission to use it a couple days ago!  Thinking that a print shop might be able to emboss our Droid. :-)  Also, we have a QR code at the bottom that links to our Google Sites wedding website with the option to RSVP electronically!

We wanted the save the date cards to be fun and we found an adorable graphic that I have coined "Droids in Love".

Who would have thought??

Here are my thoughts for the day....other than how happy I am for Vanessa and Rhys! :)

#1. This is my first blog post ever! :)

#2. Who would have thought that it would take a WEDDING to teach me how much stuff Google has to offer the world??? I never knew about Talk, Google Docs, Froyo/Gingerbread/Eclair/Donut, and all of the other stuff that I am now using! Vanessa and Rhys, you guys are such geeks!

#3. I didn't know the little green Android robot, who is, except for the bride and groom, the center of this wedding, could be SO adorable! We are doing everything from Android save the date cards, invitations, and RSVP cards, and centerpieces to buying Android robot t-shirts, tote bags, and bouquet picks! They are so adorable and I cannot wait to share them with everyone!

I am so excited that we found a venue that will let us play up this Google/Android theme as much as we want! Now it's gonna be about finding a DJ and picking out wedding party attire! Maybe we can make the DJ wear an Android t-shirt during the reception!

Wedding Spaces

Visited the wedding venue last night and oh WHAT a BLAST!

We ran into the fabulous Mike Terry as soon as we arrived. He is such a sweetheart and so very talented. Even though he could barely speak (babysitting duties over the weekend-lol) he chatted with us forever about the wedding and his cake creations. Mike was part of the Ultimate Cake Off show so we can’t wait to see what his Android ideas are!

We spent the rest of the time looking at ceremony and receptions spaces. The consultant, Apryl, was so patient with us all answering all our questions and she even kept a straight face when the bride – in typical Vanessa fashion – pulled out a four page list of questions!

After the business was out of the way and all out questions addressed, it was awesome to see Vanessa be a capricious bride and enjoy herself. I am so very happy for her and Rhys. Much love to you both, xoxo.

Impatience

So I'll admit I got a little impatient waiting for Monday to roll around so that we could check out the venue.  I snuck over to Valle Vista and peeked in the windows and it's so pretty!  Of course, I had seen the pics online, but it's always different to see it in person.  I snapped some (blurry) pictures of the gazebo and the veranda, but didn't get to see the reception site.  Guess that'll have to wait until tomorrow! :-)

The First Planning Session

Mom, Charlene, and I got together to look at our checklist of to-dos and the list is extensive.  We're also apparently behind already. LOL  No worries.  You know we'll rectify that!  With our Google TV, green wine glasses, and Android guy for inspiration, we went over venues, save the dates and invitations, dresses, and favors.  At least we're off to a good start. :-)

Android Wedding!

So we've decided to go geek and have an Android wedding!  The date is binary: 10-01-11 at 1:01PM :-)

Step 1: Of course we're using Google Weddings to plan and the spreadsheet is phenomenal!  We've added an idea tab for random thoughts, but they've covered just about everything else.  Love the sharing feature; it's easy for those involved in the planning to use, even my mom who's "technologically challenged".  

Step 2: We posted to several blogs asking Google to create an Android web theme for the Sites template and actually got a response! A Google Top Contributor, Steegle, has offered to talk with us about a theme template and then a the Google Docs Community manager responded and though they won't be able to create the template in time, she gave us links to her suggestions for the site, let us know that Steegle does great work, and wants photos of the planning process and wedding.  We are so excited!

Step 3: Finding our venue.  We've looked at several places in and around Indianapolis and looks like we might be settling on a place very close to home.  Checking it out on Monday and we'll let you know then.